Castro an enigma of a controversial leadership

THE passing away of Fidel Castro sparked eulogies for a 20th-century giant but also lamentations about the Cuban revolution’s dark side: executions, political prisoners, surveillance, censorship. Castro was the people’s hero, having led a bloody guerilla war in the late 1950s to oust then strongman dictator, Fulgencio Batista so that all Cubans could live free of harassment and repression while pursuing their well-being.

But sadly, he himself became obsessed with power.

Within a few years of becoming the leader of the “liberated” Cuba, Castro with defiance and impunity gave himself the reins to absolute power, just like the ancient Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor).

And, as the wellknown saying goes, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

Under Castro’s draconian rule, he meted out harsh punishments to dissidents to keep his repressive system rooted firmly in place for more than five decades.

Authorities jailed hundreds, possibly thousands, of prisoners of conscience solely for daring to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly in a campaign of ruthless suppression.

The revolution’s defenders called the oppression a survival strategy for a small Caribbean island besieged by a hostile superpower, the US, which allegedly deployed spooks, stooges and would-be assassins to get rid of Castro. Detractors called it tyranny.

The critiques articulated what some admirers of the late “maximum leader” ignored: he ran a police state, used threats, jail and banishment against critics of government policies and practices, including intellectuals, journalists and former allies.

Officials heavily censored books, newspapers, radio, television, music and film, stunting discourse while promoting arts, culture and sports that won Cubans international accolades. Only a few Cubans were trusted with full internet access. Havana ranked near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.

Entire generations were denied all civil rights and political freedoms, a system based on abuses – often kangaroo court-sanctioned atrocities – which felt increasingly anachronistic.

At times Castro did promote equality and social justice, for instance by combating South Africa’s apartheid and actively involving Cuba in the fight against imperialistic domination in Latin American and African nations.

More than a million Cubans took to leaky boats and risked drowning to flee poverty, stagnation and a sense of claustrophobia, which many blamed on Castro, while almost an equal number did on decades of US embargo.

Unfortunately, many of the abusive tactics developed during Castro’s time in power – including surveillance, beatings, arbitrary detention and public acts of repudiation – are still used by the Cuban government.

Indeed, Castro’s is a profoundly mixed legacy, which has polarised opinion about Castro in death as in life.

Rueben Dudley Petaling Jaya